World News and Trends- Hatred of America: A global disease
Americans don't like not knowing why they are hated around the world. Of course, the United States still has some nations as friends—chiefly among the English-speaking world, Israel and in parts of Northern and Eastern Europe. But the numbers are becoming fewer.
Americans don't like not knowing why they are hated around the world. Of course, the United States still has some nations as friends—chiefly among the English-speaking world, Israel and in parts of Northern and Eastern Europe. But the numbers are becoming fewer.
Harvard historian Niall Ferguson analyzes the subject well: "The best explanation is in fact the simplest. Being hated is what happens to dominant empires. It comes—sometimes literally—with the territory" (The Sunday Telegraph, Feb. 25, 2007).
Hatred sometimes doesn't make much sense. Professor Ferguson also writes: "Who hates America the most? You might assume it's people in countries that the United States has recently attacked—but it's not. It's the people in countries that are supposed to be America's friends, if not allies" (ibid.).
For example, according to the Pew Global Attitudes Project, Britons view former foes Germany and Japan far more favorably than America, in spite of the transatlantic partnership that has been of so much benefit to the modern world. A third of Britons even welcomed the success of Hamas in last year's Palestinian elections.
It also seems that those European nations who received the most help from the U.S. Marshall Plan following World War II are in the forefront of anti-Americanism. The current excuse is the war and insurgencies in Iraq. Both Germany and France lined up against America and Britain in opposing the war.
Indeed, "forty-eight percent of Germans think the United States is more dangerous than Iran, a new survey shows, with only 31 percent believing the opposite" (Der Spiegel, March 29, 2007).
London Times columnist Rosemary Righter gave Europe a gentle rebuke: "It's open season on the US, even in Britain . . . [But] at the age of 50, the EU should at last be able to shed its childishly defensive attitude to the US. So, even, should France. For only by pooling the skills and talents of Europe and America, will the European Union achieve its true international potential" (March 21, 2007).
Those interested in the role and future of the United States should also request and read our free booklet The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy. This publication explains the important origins and the prophetic significance of the major English-speaking nations. (Sources: The Sunday Telegraph, The Times [both London], American Thinker, Der Spiegel.)
An Article from:
Good News Magazine: May - June 2007
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Jerold Aust
Jerold Aust has served in the ministry for 52 years, as a public speaker for 58 years, a published writer for 38 years, and is employed by UCG’s Media and Communications Services. He is a Senior Writer, interviewer, and editor for Beyond Today Magazine and has taught Speech Communication for UCG’s ministerial online program and the Book of Revelation for ABC.
Jerold holds a BA in theology from Ambassador College, Pasadena (1968), an MA in Communication from California State University, Fullerton (1995), a distance-learning Ph.D (2006), and a Famous Writers School diploma in non-fiction writing (1973). Additionally, he studied post-grad communication at University of Southern California (1995), radio, TV, voice-overs, and Public Relations at Fullerton College (1995-1996), and graduate communication at Wichita State University (1978). Jerold has taught communication at the University of South Alabama (7 years) and ABC (17 years). His published works include, Ronald Reagan’s Rhetoric: Metaphor as Persuasion and EZSpeakers: Public Speaking Made Easy in 7 Steps. Jerold's overarching goal is to share with humankind its incredible destiny!
John Ross Schroeder
John died on March 8, 2014, in Oxford, England, four days after suffering cardiac arrest while returning home from a press event in London. John was 77 and still going strong.
Some of John's work for The Good News appeared under his byline, but much didn't. He wrote more than a thousand articles over the years, but also wrote the Questions and Answers section of the magazine, compiled our Letters From Our Readers, and wrote many of the items in the Current Events and Trends section. He also contributed greatly to a number of our study guides and Bible Study Course lessons. His writing has touched the lives of literally millions of people over the years.
John traveled widely over the years as an accredited journalist, especially in Europe. His knowledge of European and Middle East history added a great deal to his articles on history and Bible prophecy.
In his later years he also pastored congregations in Northern Ireland and East Sussex, and that experience added another dimension to his writing. He and his wife Jan were an effective team in our British Isles office near their home.
John was a humble servant who dedicated his life to sharing the gospel—the good news—of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God to all the world, and his work was known to readers in nearly every country of the world.
